The invention relates to a sports shoe, e.g. a shoe used for roller skating or a ski boot, in which there is a system for hinging the leg-piece on the shell.
Very brieflyxe2x80x94as illustrated, for example, in EP-A-0,502,795 and EP-A-0,671,134xe2x80x94a shoe of this kind comprises two main components which are made from injection-moulded polymer materials, i.e.:
a shell with a more rigid part and a front longitudinal slit for inserting the foot, which defines two softer front portions, and
a deformable leg-piece which is often formed by a front part and a rear part and is hinged on the shell about a transverse axis which is located more or less level with the user""s malleoli.
In material terms, the hinging system consists of a pair of rivets arranged in a zone on the inner side and in a zone on the outer side where the leg-piece is arranged overlapping the shell and allows an angular (flexing) movement of the leg-piece in the lengthwise direction of the shoe.
Shoes provided with devices which allow the user to adjust the amplitude of the said flexing movement are knownxe2x80x94see for example FR-A-2,682,859.
This possibility of adjustment is undoubtedly advantageous in the case where it is required to change from a sporty skiing posture to a more relaxed posture and/or when there is a change in the location (on-piste or off-piste) and/or snow conditions (compacted snow or fresh snow), but is of no help for persons whose legs have an anatomical form different from the so-called normal form.
Bowed legs or legs which form an xe2x80x9cXxe2x80x9d rather than a xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d, when viewed frontally, may in fact result in frequent and important manoeuvres such as xe2x80x9cedgingxe2x80x9d of the skis and skates being tiring, if not difficult, to perform, but the present footwear is unable to remedy these situations.
The following documents are also worth mentioning as representative of the state of art:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,835, where the leg-piece (shaft) of a ski boot is connected to the shell by means of a couple of hinging means aligned along a transverse axis and connected to one another by a stirrup in the form of a flexible strip. The said hinging means are fixed with respect to the leg-piece but can be shifted in a substantially vertical direction in relation to the shell.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,118, where a block connected to the leg-piece (boot leg) and a block connected to the shell (boot body) have a common pin which, in cooperation with a spring washer, permits a vertical displacement of boot leg with respect to the boot body and the side inclination of boot leg to be adjusted with respect to the boot body. In this manner the boot is adaptable to the morphology of the lower limbs so that a skier is enabled to forwardly bring the tibiae toward the tip of the boot. In other words, an angular adjustment is enabled in a substantially vertical plane wich is parallel to the longitudinal mid plane of the boot.
EP-A-0 775 454, where the hinge connecting the leg-piece to the shell of a ski boot can be displaced in a vertical direction so as to again enable an angular adjustment of the leg-piece in a substantially vertical plane wich is parallel to the longitudinal mid plane of the boot.
FR-A-2 433 311, where the transversal hinging axis between the leg-piece and the shell is mounted in such a way to be rotatable about a longitudinal axis.
The main object of the invention is to propose a sports shoe in which the system for hinging the leg-piece on the shell may be adjusted so as to take into account also the actual morphology of the users"" legs, so that the fatigue arising during the various manoeuvres required by the sporting discipline, in the case of anatomically abnormal legs, is reduced significantly, if not eliminated.
According to the main characteristic feature of the invention, these and other objects are obtained by providing a sports shoe of this kind with means which allow adjustment of the angle formed by the transverse hinging axis of the leg-piece on the shell with the longitudinal centre plane of the shoe.